Stand-Up Comedians Make a Come Back

Unless you are a fan of stand-up comedians, they generally come and go in the spotlight. There will be a rush of demand, or one stand-up comedian makes it big, and then they fade away until the next big hit. But there are a few comedians that have made it big without ever disappearing again.

US comedian, Jeff Dunham is one of them. Although, you can’t really say ‘one’ when referring to Jeff’s act. Jeff is a ventriloquist with about 5 plus talking-dolls that join him on stage. He became famous with his live show: “Arguing with Myself”, which aired on Comedy Central. It was one of the network’s highest rated hour-long stand-up specials. The show was aired every month for the past year, and the DVD won quintuple platinum.

Some of Jeff’s most popular dolls include Peanut, Walter, Jose Jalapeno and from his latest act, Spark of Insanity, Achemed the Dead Terrorist. Peanut has been one of Jeff’s longest acts. According to Peanut, he is a woozle that was born in Micronesia in the Pacific Ocean. He is a self-described comic genius.

Walter has been with Jeff since the very beginning. Walter’s act generally orientates around his wife, to whom he has been married for 48 years. He is generally a brash, negative, sarcastic character, who doesn’t care what people think of him.

In the act, Walter describes marriage life as drinking a slurpy, “(the) First couple of sips, it’s like ‘Boy this is really good! I’m glad I did this!’ Then you keep drinking, it goes right to your head, and you go “Ow, Ow, Ooooow! What the hell was I thinking? Someone kill me please!”

Jeff then tells Walter that eventually the sensation goes away. Walter agrees and then says, “Until you take another sip!”

In Jeff’s recent act, “Spark of Insanity”, he dives into the political area, with his latest dummy, Achmed, the Dead Terrorist. Achmed explains that he was a suicide bomber; however, the bomb went off early. He doesn’t realise that he is dead until Jeff points it out. He believes that the reason behind him being a skeleton is due to a flesh wound.

He is famous for his one liner, of telling the audience to “Shut up…I kill you.” When asked if he is Muslim, he declines, explaining that it says “Made In China” on his backside.

Another famous comedian is UK stand-up comedian, Eddie Izzard. Eddie has toured around Europe and, more recently, the US. He is a transvestite who describes himself as a male lesbian. The reason for his dress and make-up tastes, he declares, is his belief in 100% clothing rights for all. Since women can wear pants, men should be able to wear skirts.

On his website he explains that he takes ideas and situations, and then extrapolates them into bizarre, tangential, absurd and surreal comic narratives. He is the first to admit that he gets paid well for talking bollocks. The good pay is because, unlike the “bollocks” most of us talk, his is funny.

These are just two examples of stand-up comedians that have made it with a large enough fan base to keep surviving. However, there is new talent hitting the cameras with a lot of potential to get stand-up comedians a confirmed spot in the limelight.